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Today is Cinco de Mayo and I wanted to take the opportunity to update one of my favourite recipes, this bacon wrapped jalapeno popper stuffed chicken with some new photos! The basic idea was to stuff chicken with all of the flavours of
jalapeno poppers and then to wrap them in bacon and grill, fry or bake them. Jalapeno poppers are commonly filled with cream cheese and/or cheddar cheese and they are either coated in bread crumbs and fried until crispy or wrapped in bacon and grilled or baked until the bacon is cooked. I like a simple mixture of cream cheese, cheddar or monterey jack cheese and diced jalapeno peppers for the filling and the jalapenos can be roasted, fresh or even pickled. These bacon wrapped jalapeno popper stuffed chicken tastes just like jalapeno poppers and makes for one really tasty light meal! Who says you can't have your favourite game day snacks for dinner any night of the week?

directions

Lay the chicken flat, season the outside with salt and pepper, spread 1/4 of the mixture of the jalapenos and the cheeses on the chicken breasts, roll them up and wrap each in 2 slices of bacon

Grill over indirect medium heat, with the lid down, until the bacon is crispy and the chicken is cooked (160F to 165F), about 20-30 minutes, or bake in a preheated 400F/200C oven on a wire rack on a baking pan until cooked, about 20-30 minutes, turning the oven to broil for the last few minutes to ensure that the bacon is crispy.

Finally tried this today... Yum! Loved the taste. However I could not get the bacon to cook up nice and crispy. I baked the chicken for 30 minutes and it was still flabby. Then I put them under the broiler and they just barely got a little more cooked. I didn't want to keep going and risk burning them or drying them out. Any suggestions for crispy bacon next time? (Because there will be a next time!)

Delicious! The bacon didn't crisp up as much as yours did, so I turned on the broiler, which helped a bit. The chicken still stayed moist and I might've eaten some of the cheese that spilled out and sat cooking in the bacon fat. Mmmm..

The bacon is not going to get really crispy but broiling it will help and since the chicken is wrapped in bacon you do not have to worry about drying out the chicken when broiling as the bacon will keep it nice and moist. If you want to get a crispier bacon, you could try sauteing the bacon wrapped chicken in a pan first.

This recipe would also benefit from being done on the grill where you can really get a nice crispy char on the bacon with the heat and flames of the grill.

Anonymous: You could use pretty much any kind of chili that you can get your hands on but adjust the amount based on the heat level of that particular chili. If it is that you cannot find fresh jalapenos, you could used pickled jalapenos. You should be able to find them in jars or cans in the Mexican section of most grocery stores.

I came across this recipe and thought it looked like it would be decent, so I tried it. I decided to precook the bacon a little based on past experiences, so it crisped up nicely. Wow! It was even better than I expected! Definitely going to be making this again.

i just made this last night, and it was delicious. but how did you get your bacon so (at least in looks) crispy. i had to broil mine for about 5 minutes to get the tops cooked and then the bottom was still very chewy.

Aimee: Glad you enjoyed it! I got the bacon you see in the photos just by baking it as in the directions. You do not want to use a thick cut of bacon for this recipe and broiling should help. You can also pre-cook the bacon a little, just until you can still easily wrap it around the chicken.

Made this tonight...we have been thinking about it for a week. It was marvelous! However, I should have read to the bottom of the comments to see the toothpick and NOT thick cut bacon tips. Regardless, I have been told to add this to our list of favorites! Thanks for your site Keven and all the work you do for the rest of us!! YOU ROCK!

I made this and also had trouble getting the bacon to crisp so I popped it under the broiler for the last 5-7 minutes. I used pounded chicken tenders and 1/2 strip bacon & secured with toothpicks. I rolled them the night before and baked in an au gratin dish. Next time I make them, I will use a cookie sheet with a 1/2" wall as I think it will get hotter and the heat will circulate better. All in all, they had a very good flavor and I will make again.

I wanna make this but every time i make anything wrapped in bacon, it seems the bacon comes out only half cooked. Nothing, and i mean nothing, is worse than taking a bite and getting a piece of bacon that isn't done. Ick pooey. Any suggestions? I thought about using precooked bacon strips ?

I was craving a piece of chicken wrapped in bacon yesterday and after a Google search, I stubbled upon your recipe. Made it last night and all I can say is "It was to DIE for"!!!! Thank you for posting this delicious recipe on your blog! I'm looking forward to trying more of your recipes in the future!

Can these be cooked in an electric skillet? My bf loves my rattlesnake bites (jalepano poppers) and I know he'd love this too! Im trying to find recipes to cook in a hotel room using an electric skillet & crockpot. I hope this can work in an electric skillet.

Summy: You can precook the bacon a bit, just enough that you can still wrap it and in the end of cooking, turn on the broiler to finish off the bacon. Don't worry too much about drying out the chicken since the bacon wrapping will help keep it moist.

Anonymous: You should be able to do this completely in the skillet but you are going to want to make sure that the chicken is cut very thinly so that the inside gets cooked without the outside burning.

UPDATE: I think we have a new fetish here. Thanks for sharing. Like I stated, I used a ladle to form: 4 slices bacon, then one x-thinly sliced chicken breast/diced al dente veggies (broccoli, carrot, celery, onion,) slice provolone, the jalapenos, sea salt n' pepper. After filling, I WRAPPED the bacon slices over the filling till it looked like a little woven package. Baked at 375, broil 4 minutes. ( I crisped up bottom in a skillet for a few minutes.) I sliced w/ tomato and shredded mozzarella. I'm going to try the cream cheese next time!

A DEFINITE WINNER!! found via google for a similar recipe, wished i'd had more filling! i had 3 good sized breasts & halved them before i thinned them out. grilled & finished off in the oven (once filling started oozing.) added scallions to the filling mix as well. one thing i will remember for next time (& like another commenter stated "there WILL be a 'next time'!") i will make sure the bacon isn't doubled up bc whatever is not exposed does not crisp. thanks so much for the great recipe! my hubby raved!

I didnt dice the peppers I halved them long ways, took out half of the seed and ribs(my husband and I enjoy spicy food and it gives it a bit more of kick than if you removed them completely) I filled the peppers with the Cream cheese and Cheddar mixture, rolled wrapped and baked as it says, IT WAS AMAZING! And stuffing the pepper halves seems to help keep the yummy gooey cheese mix inside the chicken. I didnt use bacon, as I think two different type of cheese is enough calorie loaded ingredients for one meal. It was still amazing! Next time I am thinking of doing just Cream Cheese and using a turkey bacon. Would that type of bacon work? I feel that with the lower fat content it might crisp better than regular bacon?

I just want to add a note here... using fresh jalapenos is great, but they taste much better if you roast them first! Roasting really brings out the depth of flavor that you need with chicken and cheese. Roasting is easy... just broil the peppers (after halving and seeding) skin side up until the skin starts to blacken and bubble. Then pop them into a ziplock bag or sealed container to steam for at least 20 minutes. When they're done, the peppers are nice and soft (and smell wonderful) and the skins just slip right off! Give the recipe a try this way. I think you'll really love it!

I broil at the end to crisp the bacon and put them on a cooling rack for baking to see if that helped with the soggy bottom. I did put bacon on only the top this time but I think wrapping held the chicken together better. I have also done this recipe by pounding the chicken out and then putting a pocket in to hold the stuffing. My child is not a fan of the jalapeños so I Blanche broccoli and use that instead for his!

I broil at the end to crisp the bacon and put them on a cooling rack for baking to see if that helped with the soggy bottom. I did put bacon on only the top this time but I think wrapping held the chicken together better. I have also done this recipe by pounding the chicken out and then putting a pocket in to hold the stuffing. My child is not a fan of the jalapeños so I Blanche broccoli and use that instead for his!

Amazing and a perfect addition to my new low-carb high-fat diet! BTW for those who couldn't get the bacon crisp I cooked in an Avanti oven with a horizontal rotisserie, it was perfect crisp. Another idea btw might be to pan cook the bacon to the point it is still pliable and let it get semi-pan crisped. Lastly perhaps rubbing outside of the chicken with some butter or olive oil might crisp cook them.

Made this dish this past weekend after seeing a friend share the recipe on Facebook. It's absolutely fabulous! I already love jalapeno poppers, so this was a great recipe. I decided to check out your website, and I'm completely impressed. Thank you for your fresh take on everything. The pictures are spot-on; the recipes are lovely and unpretencious. I've shared your link for others to find you! Thanks so much for new ideas!

I don't know what went wrong, my chicken did not ooze of cheese like the picture, actually it was very dry. I cooked on gas grill, indirect heat for 25-30 min. Bacon was crispy, and the flavor was there, but dry. I will try again, doubling the cheese mixture.

I'm going to add this to Yummly and try it soon. It sounds wonderful. There's one thing though... I really wish that when people post a main portion recipe like this, that they'd suggest sides that would work well. I don't think too many people just eat a piece of meat for dinner. That's something that I would love to see food bloggers do, so that we could have ideas for the whole meal.

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About Me

I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.